Not A Lawyer

In Pennsylvania, a Family Court judge ordered a homeless and drug addicted couple, who had four children in foster care due to their neglect, not to have any more children until they could straighten out their lives and get their kids back. Three of the children were born addicted to cocaine.

While many people, including myself, would applaud the judge’s decision, she was, no doubt, in questionable legal territory.

Stephanie Pendleton, the mother of the four children who are now in foster care, challenged the Family Court judge’s ruling and the state Supreme Court overturned the ruling. I can not imagine who would agree to be her lawyer except maybe the most liberal civil libertarian on the planet? The five judge appeals panel decided that the Family Court judge had no authority to prohibit procreation.

The original ruling by the family court judge ordered Stephanie Pendleton and her boyfriend Rodney Evers to seek family planning services, get parental counseling and treatment for their drug addiction.

The judge wrote, “All babies deserve more than to be born to parents who have proven they cannot possibly raise or parent a child. This neglected existence is an immense burden to place on a child and on society.”

That sounds reasonable, right?

Well, the New York Civil Liberties Union had a cow and filed a friend-of-the-court brief when Pendleton filed her appeal. They argues that the Family Court judge had effectively ordered the couple to abstain from sex, use birth control or be sterilized.

I say: “Yeah. And?”

The Family Court judge had put forth that her ruling to prohibit Pendleton from having more children was allowed by a section of law that allows the court to impose medical treatment.

The appeals panel rejected that and overturned the ruling that Pendleton be prohibited from having more children until she can take care of the ones she has. The did not overturn the finding of the Family Court judge that the children were neglected or the one saying that the parents should be stripped of their parental rights.

So now the beast is free to go out and have more drug addicted children for the state and foster homes to raise. Good for you Stephanie Pendleton, good for you, and God help your children. I hope they find good homes FAR away from you.

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